This announcement is aimed to inform the members of the classiccmp community of the plans for the upcoming Vintage Computer Festival and is not intended for general distribution. Vintage Computer Festival The Vintage Computer Festival (VCF) is an event held to celebrate computers and their history. Due to the incredible pace of computing technology, computers at least ten years and older are the main focus of this event. Meet other collectors to trade tips, stories and even computers, hear talks by notable computer industry figures, attend workshops geared towards the vintage computer collector, visit the on-site interactive vintage computer museum. Two days of celebrating the science and technology of our diverse computer heritage! Event Highlights Vintage Pioneer (Featured Speaker) TBA - Candidates include Steve Wozniak (Inventor and co-founder of Apple Computer), Lee Felsenstein (Inventor of the SOL-20 Computer), Chris Espinosa (Legendary Programmer, Apple Computer). Guest Speakers TBA - Candidates include Jodelle French (Curator, Intel Museum), Robert X. Cringely (Author of _Accidental Empires_, Producer of _Triumph of the Nerds_ as seen on PBS), Steven Levy (Author of _Hackers_), Paul Fridell (Designer of IBM 5120), Kip Crosby (President of Computer History Association of California) Vintage Computer Spotlight Each year a classic computer is chosen to be featured in the Vintage Computer Spotlight. This year, being the 20th anniversary of the Apple ][, what else but the Apple ][ will be featured. What's more, each year's Vintage Computer Spotlight subject will be the grand-prize of the end-of-show drawing. All attendees will be automatically entered to win this year's Spotlight computer, an original Apple ][ with Integer BASIC ROMS! Workshops A panel of vintage computer collectors will give talks on topics relating to the hobby of classic computer collecting. Discussions will include: Restoration and preservation of old computers - external and internal cleaning tips and techniques; basic electronic repair tips; storage procedures for the long haul Software preservation with a focus on storage tips and techniques for the long haul Computer Collecting 101 - basic computing skills including operation, disk formats, serial communcations basics, how to recognize computers and their peripherals Vintage Computer Museum A hands-on, interactive museum featuring many examples of classic computing machinery through the years. The exhibit is composed of artifacts on loan from the collections of organizations and individuals, and will span the course of decades from the 1950s to the 1980s. Vending A swap-meet style vending area where attendees can shop for old, in some cases antique computers, peripherals, documentation and software. No IBM clones here, just good old classic computers. Where and When TBA - Tentative dates: October 18-19, 1997 Venue TBA - Tri-Valley Area, East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area) Admission - TBD Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass